Random Monday

Kinda overcast today.

I was out perusing the 'net, and came across this lovely collection of beaded beauty.  It's a fundraiser for curing colorectal cancer.  Really beautiful and inspiring.

I am working on knitting caps.  My church is sponsoring a local elementary school, the poorest in our county, and we are determined to make a cap for every child there.  (We're doing more tangible things too - like providing school supplies and mentors and backpacks full of food for kids to take home on the weekend.  These are very, very poor kids.)  It's good to for the kids have something warm that just theirs, not a hand-me-down or a cast-off.  And it makes ME feel good to help.

Three recent viewings of weird hair and no good pictures to speak of.  First viewing - African-American woman with a very elaborate braided 'do.  Said 'do was braided close to the head and two toned, with stripes of auburn and black hair (4 braids per stripe) swirling over her head.  Must have cost her a bundle.  I couldn't look away.

Second weird hair, seen on the train last week, a white woman whose hair must be originally solid gray. She had died her hair jet black. Nothing strange here - except that it had been a LONG time since she had done any touch up to the dye job, resulting in a 2 inch skunk stripe running down the middle of her head.  (This is one reason I Do Not Dye.  It requires much upkeep.)

the skunk haired lady is looking down in the middle

Third weird hair, seen in the waiting room of my internist's office.  A white lady there who looked to be about my age and her hair appeared to be light gray, in a short cut appropriate to her age.  Then I looked again.  All the front of her hair was gray.  The back half was jet black.  I'm not sure if she had a mega-version of the white patch that some folks had, but the division in hair color went over her head from ear to ear.  It almost looked like she was wearing a furry black hat, perched on the back of her head.

(Curly thinks I am bad for noticing these things.  I can't help it!)

I also saw another African American woman, young and cute with a sweet short haircut, who had dyed a lemon yellow swoosh of a stripe in her bangs.  Why?  People - if it's not a color known in nature, stay away from the dye bottle!

Since I've been crocheting, I got a wild hair and tried to do some crochet with tatting thread.  Maybe it's my crochet hook, but I could not make a granny square with Lizbeth size 20 to save my neck.

Things I never expected to need to know

When I graduated from college, I thought I was full of knowledge. I knew I needed other knowledge. But there are many things I have learned that I never, ever dreamed I'd need to know.

 

My maternal grandmother, a smart woman with a master's degree obtained from Columbia University during the 1920's, never learned how to cut up a chicken. Not that she couldn't learn. She just didn't learn - so she wouldn't ever have to do it.

 

I have continued in her tradition, sans the Columbia MA. I do not know how to operate a lawn mower or change the oil in my car. I never intend to have those skills. Oil change places are cheap and not messy for me. And the Stooges now cut the grass. (When Larry turned 10, DH bought a self-propelled mower and told Larry it was his. I said nothing. Hee.)  When the Stooges are no longer in residence (and please God, make this happen some day), I can hire a neighbor kid to cut the grass.  I never will cut it.

 

But I've been forced to learn some skills I never dreamed I'd need to have. I've learned a thing or two along the way. Some things I now know:

• To cover a boy baby's parts as soon as you pull that diaper off. Freedon causes pee.
• How to unclog a toilet. Ugh.
• How to translating pidgin English instructions so that something that came in pieces may be put together.
• How to dropper-feed baby mammels, like squirrels, kittens, and 'possums. Really.
• How to install automatic home thermostats and other electrics. I have done this in two homes, thank you.
• How to shop in a thrift store for fabric, not the clothing. Clothing is made of fabris, and sometimes you can get some nifty stuff from a cheap old prom dress for $2
• How to install hardware in my computer. I'm actually pretty good with this. Not bad for a person with a liberal arts degree.
• How to make my way up the food chain of customer service to find someone who will really fix my problem. Do NOT cross me when I am angry. The price may be your job.
• How and when to get schools to enforce an IEP. Only necessary for certain instances, but gotta be done.
• How to dicker on prices for cars, furniture, and real estate. I am much better at this than DH, who gets embarrassed by how tough I am. I once got a silver candelabra in at the Cacun market for under $50, and he was mortified.
• When to be patient with the medical system and when to have a fit and shake some trees. My pediatrician is slow, but wonderful. But in certain other places, attention must be demanded.
• A huge amount about medicines for colds, headache, bronchitis, ear infections, almost any minor illness. Drug to drug interactions, effacacy, dosage. I am a veritable cornucopia of medical knowledge.
• How to read x-rays for minor fractures. Chips, separation at growth plate, outright breaks. I can do some with CT scans and MRIs too.  I guess that high school anatomy class had some value, huh?
• When to call 911 and when to just take someone yourself.  And when the police need to come.

And my latest skill:

• How to post a property bond to get someone out of jail! Doesn't everyone need to know that? There's more paper work than you think!

BTW - I can cut up a chicken.

In other news:

Curly is bored but feeling better.  I am making him shampoo carpets.

The damn snow is almost gone here.  My poor mother is so sick of it at her place in the mountains.  They have had 7 snow storms in 2010 alone.

She sent this Tuesday, saying "Deja vu all over again."  Her driveway and road are in this picture.

And clowns!  I found clown-like people everywhere!  (No bird-like folks, bb.)

Here's one at the grocery.  Mmmm, pretty.

And one today on the train.  If you look carefully, you will see that the top of his clown pants are about mid-thigh.  And where are his hands?  I don't think I really want to know.

My boss wants a pair of my MIUAYGA earrings.......